Vindaloo Against Violence

[tweetmeme] Melbourne has recently played host to a spate of violent attacks on Indian students, none more shocking than the recent stabbing death of a young Indian man on his way to work. The debate continues to rage as to whether or not these attacks are racially motivated, however racially motivated or not, one thing is certain, the world’s attention has been turned to Melbourne and questions are being asked about the safety of our streets; particularly for those in our Indian community.

One movement is poised to put the spotlight on Melbourne’s image problem and show the world that we, as the community, will not turn a blind eye to the violence in our city. That movement is Vindaloo Against Violence and on the 24th of February they ask that you dine at your local Indian Restaurant and “embrace and show solidarity with our Indian community”. FoodstuffMelb will be joining in and teaming this event up with a review of the local, The Bengal Tiger.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to their website, register your interests and hopefully together we can all send a powerful message that Melbourne is proud of its Indian community and all that it offers.

11 thoughts on “Vindaloo Against Violence”

Have a read of the Heraldsun 0502 pg36 write up by Andrew Bolt, you’ll see there is no violence against Indians, well no more than anyone else experiences. 3 Indians have been arrested over the murder in Dec 09, the Indian who claims he had a petrol bottle thrown at him has been charged with attempted arson. Further, an Indian caused the death of a Melb womens 8 mth unborn child in Dec 09 due to his road rage and fled the scene, an Indian taxi driver knocked a man unconscious in St Kilda last week, an Indian man slashed his wifes throat in Sydney and fled to Melbourne late last year. This is propaganda. Ask yourself why all the other nationalities don’t cry racism and manage to live in peace? Now Indians are hacking and destroying Australian companies computer systems warning that it will continue if attacks against Indians don’t stop?! This is from a country that accepts murdering of Indian woman by their husbands! Please do not buy into the ‘Violence against Vindaloo’ on the 24/2, learn the facts and not the propaganda.

It is interesting that you say learn the facts and not the propaganda, yet go on to say “Ask yourself why all the other nationalities don’t cry racism and manage to live in peace” and “This is from a country that accepts murdering of Indian woman by their husbands!”. Seems a little hypocritical.

Please believe me when I say that I am not buying into the hype and I do not necessary agree that these attacks are racially motivated. What I do agree with is that we have an image problem, correctly or incorrectly, that needs to be rectified, and quickly. For me, Vindaloo Against Violence is a movement aimed at showing the world that we do care, and are not a racist people. Is it going to solve the problem? Probably not, but at least it is shining the spotlight on the whole situation and not focusing on the negatives, from both sides.

Lastly, this is a food blog, not a political movement. I chose this subject as a point of interest to highlight how important food can be in society, for creating, strengthening and mending relationships.

Thank you for taking the time out to express your opinion and this issue aside, I hope you continue to read FoodstuffMelb.

Hi Grant,
I just wanted to express my thoughts on Vindaloo Against Violence. On the face of it, it seems like a good idea. But just dig around a little and some serious questions have to be raised about the staging of such an event.
What evidence is there that racism was a motivation in any of the attacks on Indians that VAV is symbolically protesting against? I’m not so sure there is any apart from the odd anecdote found in both somewhat reputable and gutter-journalism media . As much as I think we should abhor and oppose these attacks (to the same extent that we should abhor and oppose attacks on anyone in Australia) I really think that we ought to think about how public opinion appears to have been manipulated by the media. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so blindingly accepting of what hacks and genuine journalists have been portraying as the reality.
Secondly, recently-released data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that in Australia, people born here are more than twice as likely to be physically attacked than those born overseas.http://m.theage.com.au/national/localborn-more-at-risk-of-assault-20100218-oiuv.html
When can we expect the BBQ Against Violence campaign to begin? Or would that not be sufficient for people to show how politically-correct they are?
Come on people, a little bit of independent thought is called for here!

Thanks for your comments. It’s certainly refreshing to see an educated and measured response on a topic that has been overrun with biased rants from both the left and right.

As I said in my post on the subject, whether you believe these attacks are racially motivated or not, one thing is blindingly obvious: we have an image problem that needs to be addressed. My support for VAV echoes this sentiment. Do I believe that this campaign will solve the world’s problems? Absolutely not. Is it shining the spotlight on a problem – perceived or otherwise – that requires attention? Yes, I believe that it is.

As a food blog, my main interest in this subject was to explore the role food plays in society. This campaign is just another example of how food is such an important medium for bridging divides; cultural, religious, socioeconomic or otherwise.

Thanks Grant,
I also believe that Melbourne now has an image problem, but I think it’s largely media driven. And I think that campaigns like VAV, for all its good intentions, actually adds to the problem. Such a campaign reinforces the arguement that Indian nationals are over-represented in assault statistics.
But this doesn’t appear to be the case.
I actually think that many Australians (particularly among the younger generations) are very sensitive about issues of race, especially because of this country’s historic and contemporary treatment of Indigenous Australians. This is why I think that sentiments regarding the attacks on Indians are not wrong, but misplaced.
I take your point on this being a food blog too and it’s great to think about how food impacts and is impacted by other factors in society. But can we separate food or any other societal factor from politics? I’m not so sure we can.